Death benefit - Adrian P Fayter

‘The worst thing about doing a stakeout is the pressure it puts on your bladder.’Until it leads to torture and attempted murder, that is...Larry Di Palma always wanted to be a detective, but he has to make do with the next best thing: fraud investigation for the Benefits Agency.Larry does stakeouts and ‘good cop, bad cop’ interviews; he uses cameras and recording equipment and even runs a useful grass or two. But it’s not a glamorous job: his suspects are petty fraudsters and the informants are paid from petty cash. Even the video equipment came from a local charity shop.But when Larry’s boss orders him to take on a seemingly worthless investigation – and a new and attractive assistant – things take a more serious turn. This one is not just about someone disappearing off the unemployment register, it’s about people disappearing without trace. And anyone who stumbles over the reason for it is in danger of going the same way.Can Larry meet his manager’s targets before he becomes a target himself? And when the killers’ identities finally emerge, how can he protect the two young women he has accidentally involved?